Samajwadi Party spokesperson and general secretary Mohan Singh described the withdrawal of support by DMK to the Congress-led government as an "internal tussle for power-sharing" between the two parties.
With DMK pulling out of UPA, Samajwadi Party today said it has kept its options open as it did not want the country to go through a mid-term election but maintained that it would "tread cautiously" on the issue of joining government in light of its experience with Congress.
SP spokesperson and general secretary Mohan Singh described the withdrawal of support by DMK to the Congress-led government as an "internal tussle for power-sharing" between the two parties.
"I have been watching DMK since 1980. Among the political parties it is one of the hard bargainers. So, in a few days it can reach some understanding. At the moment, we are only playing the role of a silent spectator," Singh said.
He maintained that SP's issue-based support to the Congress-led UPA would continue.
However, Singh pointed out that his party did not want the country to face another general election so soon and it would keep this factor in mind while taking any decision.
"We had given issue-based support to UPA-II as we did not want political instability. We do not want a poor country like ours to have frequent elections which involve a lot of expenditure," Singh said.
Asked if his party would join the government at this stage, Singh said, "We have suffered the punishment for supporting the Congress. We will tread cautiously."
He alleged that Congress is a party which "devours" any party that supports it and "this was seen in the case of SP in the past and DMK now".
He maintained that if the party is faced with a situation where it has to support the government, then it would take a decision only after a thorough discussion on the issue in the party ranks.
Taking a dig at Congress General Secretary Digvijay Singh without naming him, Mohan Singh said, "A Kshatriya leader of the Congress seems to have only one job during his visits to Uttar Pradesh... that of abusing us (SP). After these abuses, the party would have to think before supporting the Congress."
Singh insisted that UPA-I had an agenda and a common minimum programme but UPA-II is all about "the fight for power".
The Samajwadi Party, which provides outside support to UPA, has 22 members. Jaya Prada is an expelled member of the SP and is seen as a member supporting the UPA.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}